Henshaw on the Hermit Thrush. 
135 
It is the purpose of the present paper to discuss briefly the Her- 
mit Thrush (T. pallasi) in relation to its two ascribed varieties, the 
Dwarf and Audubon’s Thrushes (nanus et auduboni ).* 
Prior to Mr. Allerds paper t the three birds had generally been 
considered distinct species-, and they were so treated by Professor 
Baird in the ninth volume of the “ Pacific Railroad Reports,” who, 
however, did not fail to call attention to their close relationship. 
In his paper Mr. Allen reviewed the subject somewhat fully, and, 
indorsing the opinion of Dr. Gambel, formally reduced the two 
Western names to synonyms of pallasi. The treatment adopted 
by Mr. Allen has been considerably modified by most authors who 
have had occasion to refer to the birds since, and the two West- 
ern birds have been allowed place as geographical varieties of pal- 
lasi. 
In his most recent work, “Birds of the Colorado Valley,” Dr. 
Coues appears to reopen the question, and makes the following 
statement : “ Among the Western Hylocicklee of the pallasi type, 
there are a larger and a smaller race, both intergrading completely 
with the dimensions of Eastern pallasi , their respective averages be- 
ing at about the maxima and minima of pallasi proper. The differ- 
ence in size between them is more noticeable than that between either 
of them and T. pallasi , and appears to be preserved with much con- 
stancy. I am unable to appreciate any of the differences in colora- 
tion which have been ascribed ; at any rate, these differences are 
fully within the normal range of variation of typical pallasi. These 
subspecies are less strongly indicated than either of those of the 
swainsoni type, and little violence would be done by declining 
to recognize them by name. Nanus, in particular, is positively 
indistinguishable from some small specimens of Eastern pallasi. 
* The current names for the three forms will he adopted in the present paper. 
It well illustrates the uncertainties of our nomenclature that Audubon’s name 
nanus should have been allowed to stand so long for the Dwarf Thrush . His 
nanus was unquestionably based upon a small specimen of the Eastern pallasi 
proper, the locality of his bird being alone sufficient evidence of the fact. 
It, hence, properly should become a simple synonym of the latter, leaving a name 
for the small Western form, if it be deemed necessary to recognize it, to be sought 
for among the earlier authors. The guttata of Pallas applies throughout to one 
of the Hermit Thrushes, and as his locality, Kodiak, is now known to be the 
home of the true Dwarf Thrush, and of no other, it would appear that the accept- 
ance of his name is scarcely to be avoided. 
t Mammals and Winter Birds of East Elorida, 1871, pp. 254-256. 
